CGBTS Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – The Trial

Novel Title: あの夏から戻れない (Can’t Go Back to That Summer)

Author：宮緒葵 (Miyao Aoi)

Illustrator：笠井あゆみ (Kasai Ayumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 櫛原夏生 (Kushihara Natsuo -MC) & 四辻柊 (Yotsutsuji Shuu -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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Blinded by love, Kiyoshi had not questioned Etsuko’s reasoning in the slightest. So he had gotten his father, who was always eager to help others, to stop by Natsuo’s place before the drinking party. While his father was there, Kiyoshi had sneaked into the flowerbed and stolen the Sacred Flower.

After delivering it straight to Etsuko, he had joined the drinking party and acted as though nothing had happened. But when he learned that Natsuo had nearly been killed, he panicked and apparently confessed that he himself had stolen the Sacred Flower. He was now being held in a separate cell from Etsuko, awaiting his sentence.

“…So that’s why Kasuya-san suddenly came yesterday…”

“Not yesterday, Natsuo. Three days ago.”

“What…?”

“I’ve been telling you this for a while now, haven’t I? It’s already been three days since you were poisoned.”

―――The Sacred Flower poison that had been mixed into the bento Etsuko made for him was eaten three days ago.

That was right. Shuu had definitely said that. But three days? Natsuo had thought everything had happened over the course of a single night, yet in reality, did that mean that he and Shuu had continued their intimate encounters for three whole days?

“…Ah… ugh…”

Feeling unbearably embarrassed about sitting on Shuu’s lap, Natsuo tried to get down, only for his buttocks to be firmly grabbed from both sides. He vaguely remembered being penetrated in exactly this position. Shuu surely hadn’t forgotten either.

“Natsuo………”

“Eek, y-yes!”

As Shuu whispered to him while kneading his buttocks, Natsuo’s voice went up an octave.

Only now did he notice that because he was straddling Shuu’s firm waist, his thighs were completely exposed beneath the hem of his disheveled yukata. There should have been nothing embarrassing about being seen like that by a male friend, yet his cheeks turned so red they felt as though they were burning.

……This is strange… I’m feeling strange…!

Perhaps the Sacred Flower’s poison had not completely left his system yet. Even his heart began pounding so violently that it felt as though it might burst. At this rate, at this rate…

“While you were sleeping, I spoke with the village head several times. …The village head is extremely angry about this incident. Etsuko and Kiyoshi will probably receive the heaviest punishment.”

“The heaviest punishment…? Don’t tell me…”

―――The death penalty.

His throat gave a sharp gasp. …The death penalty? It had existed in his original world too, but it was imposed for committing grave crimes that could only be atoned for with one’s life.

“Etsuko-chan and Kiyoshi-kun only stole the Sacred Flower and made me eat it, didn’t they? To give them the death penalty for that alone…”

“You’re the only one who thinks that way. The other villagers… even Etsuko and Kiyoshi’s parents, are convinced. They believe that the crime of trying to kill someone using Odamaki-sama’s blessing can only be atoned for with one’s life.”

“That’s… impossible…!”

Shuu laid the pale-faced Natsuo down on the futon, then brought over a tray from the kitchen with rice balls, tea, and miso soup. His stomach growled at the delicious aroma of the broth, reminding Natsuo that he had eaten almost nothing for three days.

“Eat something and get some sleep. While you do that, I’m going to help with the trial.”

“I’ll come too…”

“No. You can’t. …I never want to let you meet those people again.”

Without giving Natsuo any chance to argue, Shuu left the bedroom.

Natsuo hurriedly tried to follow him, but the closed sliding door would not open. Neither would the one leading to the living room. Apparently, they had been braced shut from the outside with some kind of bar.

……No way, I’m locked in!?!

Natsuo nearly became dizzy, but he couldn’t simply lie quietly on the futon here. He was alive and well like this, yet the thought of the two younger people being sentenced to death would leave an unbearable weight on his conscience.

Of course, he was furious that they had tried to kill him. But if they were going to atone for it, he wanted them to do so by some means other than giving their lives. Even if every villager agreed with the death sentence, perhaps the two could avoid it if Natsuo, the very person who had nearly been killed, pleaded for their sentences to be reduced.

Stuffing an onigiri into his mouth, Natsuo desperately racked his brain. He might be able to kick the door down, but knowing Shuu, he had probably locked the front entrance and the back door from the outside as well. The glass doors opening onto the veranda were also shut behind storm shutters. Was there anywhere else he could get outside…?

“…Ugh…!”

Something like an image slowly surfaced in his throbbing head.

A Japanese-style room with an old chest of drawers… This room. Natsuo, wearing nothing but a yukata draped over his naked body, lifted the tatami mat in front of the chest. The floorboards underneath had become so loose around the nails that they could easily be removed. Through the hole that opened up, a half-naked Natsuo crawled down into the space beneath the floor…

“W-what… was that just now?”

The moment he shook his head, the image shattered and disappeared. Despite being overcome by violent palpitations, Natsuo tried to retrace the actions of the person he had seen in the vision.

“Ah…!”

Sure enough, with just a little force, the floorboard came away cleanly. Nervously peering into the space beneath the floor, he saw that it was brighter farther ahead.

Natsuo changed into the T-shirt and trousers Shuu had put away in the chest of drawers, then climbed down beneath the floor. Not having any shoes was unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do since he couldn’t use the entrance. Getting down on all fours, he made his way toward the brighter area, avoiding the numerous floor supports along the way.

“…I actually got out…”

He emerged into the garden beyond the veranda. The sunlight, which he hadn’t felt in a long time, was dazzling, and Natsuo raised a hand to shield his eyes.

……What was that just now?

It was perhaps a daydream――except that it had been strangely realistic. As though a memory of something he had experienced in the past had suddenly come back to him…

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*Translator’s Note: You’re way too naive, Natsuo. Bad people don’t change that easily. I kinda wished he never found a way out. Ugh. -K

Next update: 2026.11.03

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